Facing zero sales, Reliance Brands pushes direct sales to rope in business

Video-calls, whatsapp catalogues, tailored web-parties tap customers

With several stores under lockdown and most of its products falling into the discretionary spend category, the country's biggest luxury retail player Reliance Brands Limited faced a zero sales scenario until it went into direct sales mode.

Through a blend of online events, video-guided tours and parties, and digital catalogs called "flipbooks", the company has seen post lockdown sales awaken.

On the back of thousands of Whatsapp messages, and at least 700 video calls, Reliance Brands sold close to 12,000 products across brands to 3400 customers across 38 cities, RBL officials say, with at least 75 transactions valued at over Rs 1